Discovering ...


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Mac "Discovering"...

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What Does "Discovering" Mean to Me?


What Does ‘Discovery’ Mean?
Mr. May asked me to think about what discovery means. I think discovery means finding a new species. Such as in my picture I am discovering a new species, the walking fish. New species that you discover could make you famous for discovering it. That is what I think discovery means.




Cooperating and Collaborating ...


The Awesome
Lightning Bolts
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The Awesome Lightning Bolts Team Video





The Engineering Design Process ...


Crusie Arcade Game: Target Golf

Research Paper

Identify the Problem


How can we, as Caine has inspired, demonstrate through teamwork our imagination, determination, and passion for creativity and innovation, with our own arcade constructions?

Explore

What Makes an Effective Professional Arcade Game?

I researched the game “Crazy Over Goo” to see what makes an effective arcade game. The creator is Banov and the company is Steakface Games. The object of the game is to get the ball of goo through the level, over obstacles, and to the flag at the end of the obstacle course. You have to left click-and-drag where you want the goo ball to go and release to launch the goo ball to the area that you targeted. The goo ball behaves differently when different blocks are around, like a sticky block. Aim to launch at that block and you will stick right to the block! The instructions are provided on the game screen. It is not too hard of a game, I rate this game a 2 out of a possible four difficulty. You win the game by getting the goo to the flag. If you win the game you advance to the next level but there is a whole campaign to it which makes it really addictive.

I could build the game with a box, a rubber band, a tissue, three sticks and one bouncy ball. It would probably be $20.00 to build the game and $3.99 to buy.

You can check out “Crazy over Goo” at:


http://www.freearcade.com/CrazyOverGoo.flash/CrazyOverGoo.html


Design Brief

What is the Concept Design of My Crusie Arcade Game?

The name of our arcade game is Target Golf. You hit the ball and try to get it in the hole or hit the target. The rules of the game are displayed on the side of the game. I rate this game 3 out of a 1-4 difficulty rating system. You win this game by getting the ball in the hole or hitting the target. You get tickets to buy prizes if you win the game.

A brief description of our blueprint shows a lane for the ball to roll through, a club to hit the ball, walls so it does not launch out of the lane, a paper plate as the target and a tin container as the hole.

We would need a box, a tin container, a paper plate, duct tape or packaging tape, a jar, a cup, candy, prizes, a mini disco ball, tickets, a shoe box and cardboard to build this game. It would take about 5 weeks to finish building it in a 45 minute span two days a week. A problem we foresee happening is the game falling apart and having to reinforce the game every class.

Create

What are the Stages of the Building Process?
"It Began" ... "It Transformed" ... "It Became" ... "It Will Be" (PowerPoint)
Try It Out
What were the Results of Testing Our Game?
Examiner: Mr. Jensen

Date: February 5, 2013

Praise: Great ideas on the Wiki! There was so much detail. You created a challenging game that anyone can play. I love the strobe light and ticket machine!

Question: Are you planning to put up the guard rails or walls on the sides from the wiki to trap the balls?

Polish: You might want to make the instructions very clear. For example, give people a set number of turns. Explain clearly when you get points for hitting target or landing on it.

Student Comment: Thanks for the praise for our wiki, game, strobe light and ticket machine! The ticket machine placed on our game, Target Golf, was hard to make because I had to tape all the stray tickets to the roll. The strobe light is on the ticket machine, so sorry to all the people that did not play our game with the strobe light on. Occasionally we forgot to start it up. We were going to try and put up the rails, track and roof, but we needed a larger lane for people to play on. Yet, if we have the time, we will figure a way to make the roof, walls and track possible. We will try to explain the instructions better. It is just that was first time people not from the school came to play so it was hard to explain.
Examiner: Ms. Pinkard

Date: January 31, 2013

Praise: I love the golf game and that you came up with two different ways to score.

Question: Could you use a different ball to make it harder or easier to score.

Polish: You could make the bottom flatter.

Student Comment: The reason we made tons of ways to score is because we wanted there to be an easier way to get tickets. We have upgraded balls to answer your question, but you could not to make the game easier to score. We did the best we could to make the top as flat as possible.

Examiner: Mrs. Hook

Date: January 29, 2013

Praise: The game seemed well constructed with a clear starting point. The lights made it feel like a real arcade game. The game was enjoyable.

Question: Can the player perhaps have another choice of clubs?

Polish: Make sure the point system is clearly defined.

Student Comment: We tried to make our game fun for all of the people who play our game. We have clubs for right-handed people and left-handed people, so technically, we do have other clubs. We are trying to make the instructions more clear. Before, we had to tear down our game and make it new. We had this cup that was the bonus jackpot which explains the bonus jackpot score; we had to it up before our problems.


Sketch of Professional Arcade Game "Crazy Over Goo":

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Orthographic Design for Crusie Arcade Game Target Golf:

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Creation PowerPoint for Crusie Arcade Game:



Crusie Arcade Game Examinations:


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Make It Better
How Can We Make the Crusie Arcade Game Better?
Reflection on Project

What can we do to improve our Arcade Creation?

Add lanes, walls and better golf balls.

Specifically, how would we do this?

By folding up the sides of our game like we did before we tore it down and restarted

Reflection on Process

What did you learn to do with the Crusie Arcade Project?

How to make an arcade game made of cardboard.

What do you know now that you didn’t know before doing the Project?

How to tape better.

What can you do now that you couldn’t before doing this project?

Have the creative influence to actually build a real arcade game.

What did you like about the project that helped your learning?

That sometimes you need to just start over.

What could have been done differently to help your learning?

Make a better game, not saying ours was bad!

A Final Reflection:

Our game, Target Golf, would be better if we added lanes, walls and used better golf balls. We would also have to fold up the sides of the game like we did before we tore it down and restarted. It would help out to make the game lanes. What we learned was how to make a game made of cardboard. We also learned we were really bad at duct-taping, and then we learned how to do it better. We now have the creative ability to make a real arcade game. We also learned that sometimes you just have to start over, and we could make a better game - not saying ours was bad!
Crusie Arcade Game Presentation - Gaming Week:

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Project Based Learning ...


Hurricane! To the Rescue! - PBL Steps:

Meteorologists
Launch Activity:

Hurricane! To the Rescue! Group Challenge

Driving Question:

How can we, as Meteorologists, design and create Discovery Center Weather-Related Instruments that will help prevent or minimize harmful Hurricane Disaster effects on people and property?

Knowledge and Skills:

What is a Meteorologist Professional?

Product:

What are Examples of Weather-Related Instruments?

Presentation:

How can we, as Entrepreneurial Journalists, create and publish nnNet, an on-line Discovery Center magazine and Student-Owned-and-Operated-Stockholding Business, to support and share the projects of our Discovery Center?

Culmination:

How can we, as St. Paul’s Discovery Center Kids and using all that we have learned through our PBL project, design and create navigable rescue vessels for our Hurricane! To the Rescue! Sailing competition?





Cardboard Boat Blueprints - Heidelbach 4Ba "The Awesome Lightning Bolts" - "The Electric-Fire"

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